Jim Dandy likely next for Code of Honor

ELMONT, N.Y. – With his primary summer target the Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 24, trainer Shug McGaughey said Sunday that if all goes well, Code of Honor would make his next start in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 27.

McGaughey said Code of Honor came out of his 3 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes fine and he was shipped early Sunday morning to Saratoga. In rallying from last to win the Dwyer, Code of Honor ran a mile in 1:35.81 and earned a career-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure.

McGaughey said he would prefer to run Code of Honor in the Jim Dandy rather than train up to the Travers, but he wants to make sure the horse is up to running back in three weeks.

“I just got to be careful on a quick turnaround,” McGaughey said Sunday morning. “I won’t have to do much with him, but I’ll have to watch him really close up there. Hopefully, we’ll get some cool weather and he can bounce back in a hurry. I don’t think the race should take too much out of him.”

McGaughey was happy to see Code of Honor finish the race the way he did, a sign that he’s progressing mentally as well as physically.

“The thing I did like was he ate the dirt, came through that hole, and when he made the lead he went on and finished up,” McGaughey said. In Florida, in the Fountain of Youth when he made the lead, he was sort of pricking his ears and waiting on horses.”